Improvement in machines for making horseshoes



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

B. MEE. MACHINE FOR MAKING HORSESHOES.

No. 38,873. Pat'ente dJune 9, 1863.

fa/0am h e 2 Sheets Sheet 2.

B. MEI..- MACHINE FOR MAKING HORSESHOES.

No. 38,873. Patented June 9, 1863.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BARNEY MEE, O1 TROY, NEW YORK.

1 IMPROVEMENT m MACHINES FOR'MAKING HORSESHOES Specification formingpart of Letters Patent No. 38,873, dated June 9, 1863.

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BARNEY M-En, of the city of Troy, county ofRensselaer, and State of N ew York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Machinery for Manufacturing Horse and Mule Shoes; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the construction and operation of the same, referencebeing hereby had to the accompanying drawings, made upon two separatesheets for the purpose of greater convenience, which said drawings makea part of this specification.

.Like letters represent and refer to like or corresponding parts.

Figure 1 is a front view of the machine, hereinafter described. Fig. 2is an opposite view of the same machine from the rear. Fig. 3 is asideview of the same' from the'gear side showing gear-wheels by whichthe entire machinery is operated. Fig. 4 is a plan or view from the topof the machine, look in g downward into the same. Fig. 5 is a verticalsee-.

tion through the center rollers or cylinders, on which the dies forforming and shaping the shoes are made fast, and also through otherparts of the said machine, all of which are hereinafter fully describedand set forth. Fig. 6 is a vertical section lengthwise through thecylinders or rollers containing the dies by which'the shoe is formed,sha-ped, and completed, in the manner substantiallyas hereinafterdescribed and set forth. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the wholemachine. Figs. 8, 9, 10,11, 12,13, 14, 15, and 16 are sections and partsof the said machine, each of which are hereinafter fully described andset fort in their order respectively.

The nature of my invention and improvements consists in a self-feedingdevice having moving head and adjustable jaws or nippers, so as to feedthe bar of iron from which the horse or mule shoe is made to the machineas the same may require.

It also consists in the employment of an adjustable bender inconnectionwith the slotted bar and die, hereinafter described, so that the ironfrom which the shoes are made will be bent by the said bender, and thencarried forward and placed between the dies, and then held until thedies commence compressing it, when the said bender recedes and permitsthe iron to spread while being formed.

and shaped into shoes, and firmly held while being creased, andpartially punched for the nail-holes, in 3 manner and by the meanssubstantially hereinafter described and set forth.

It also consists in the employment of side.

formers, attached to the sides of the upperdie roller, so that any sizeor shaped shoe can be made-without requiring additional rollers,

only requiring the cl'iange of the side formers shall besupported ontheouter edge thereof" and so bent or shaped as to fit or correspond tothe. lower die.

It also consists in the employment of an inclined bed-plate, which shallreceive the shoe immediately after the same shall have passed from therollers, upon which the shoe is held by means of a stopperwhile the saidshoe is made straight and true, in the manner here inafter set forth.

' It also consists in an adjustable'die plate in connection with theincline bed-plate and with cams,hereinafter described,so that shoes arestraightened and made true as they come from the said machine. g

It also consists in the employment of a mo vable stopper in connectionwith cams, so as to catch and hold the passing shoe during the operationof being made straight and even.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention andimprovements relate to make anduse the same, I will here proceed togive'the construction and operation of the same, which is as follows-towit:

I construct the frame A of iron of suitable size and strength toanswerthe. required purpose. I construct the self-feeder with a movable head,B, to which I attach the doubleacting jaw or nipper B which is operatedby means of the horizontal lever B, Figs. 1 and 2. The heated bar passesinto the said mov-' 'able head at a, same figures. The said horizontallever B is drawn back by the perpendicular lever B b, which is operatedby means of the cam B", Figs. 1 and 2, which said cainlever and movablejaw so operate as to move the said jaw or nipper to grip the heated bar,

at which time the said movable head will be drawn along in the guide m,in which the heated bar is drawn forward from the furnace, when the sameis heated, against a gage a given distance, which gives the length ofiron needed to make the desired shoe, at which time the said heated baris cut off by the cutting-lever orshears G,Figs. 1 and 3, and then thesaid feeder returns to its former place, at the same time allowing thesaid movable hea d and jaw to slide on the said heated bar withouthinderance, and thus the operation for the whole length of each heatedbar continues.

The bender g, Figs. 2, 4, 5, 6, and 12, I construct of steel, of anysize and strengthto answer the required purpose. It turns on the pivotsg 9, Figs. 6 and 12,. within the upper or male die, D, Figs. 1, 2,4, and6, and is operated by the slotted bar h,-Figs. 2, 4, 5, 6, and 12. intowhich the lower end of said bender passes through the diagonal mortiseh, Fig. 12. in the said bar or slide h, same figure. The said slottedbar is operated by means of the cam Gr, Fig. 1, which moves the saidslotted bar at the time, distance, and place required, and which bar isreturned to its place at the desired time by means of a sprin g, wherebythe said bender g is carried somewhat back and away from the top of theshoe, after the said shoe shall have been put into its proper place,ashereinafter described. This bender g is for the purpose of bending theiron from which the shoe is to be made, while passing between the siderollers, H H, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, and also to move forward on the die theblank shoe before the same comes in contact with the lower or femaledie, L, Figs.

], 5, and 6, so that when the junction of the male die f, Figs. 2, 5,and 6', and the said female die L, and the blank shoe takes place, thebender will be drawn back out of the way of the shoe, and at the sametime permit the iron to spread while being formed and shaped into shoes.

The side formers, E E, Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 8, are so constructed of ironor steel as to be removed from the roller F, Figs. 1, 2, and 4, for thepurpose of being replaced by other. side formers of different sizes andshapes, to make shoes of any size and shape required, whereby thenecessity of separate and distinct rollersfor various sizes is avoided,thus avoiding all chan geso'f rollers" for the different sizes of shoes.These formers are securely fastened to the side of the upper roller,D,by means of screw-bolts. A center die, f, Figs. 1 and 2, is used tocorrespond with the said side formers. as to size and shape of shoe tobe made, which, when done, will leave space between the same channels orgrooves, I) D, Figs. 1, 2

and 4, for the rollers 11 E, on the end of the adjustable bars H H, Fig.4, to pass along the outer edge of the heated bar while the said benderis bending the heated bar for the shoe as aforesaid, and which saidrollers H are guided and governed by the said formers E and therebyconform to the size of shoe being made. When the said side formers areremoved for a different-sized shoe, the said center die will also beremoved. for this die must always conform in size and shape to the saidside former, and both to the shoe to be made.

The adjustable side supports, I I, Figs. 1 and 13, operate in a. bracketor frame, .l 1, Figs. 1 and 13, which frame istirmly bolted o the sidesof the-frame of the machine at the required place.- These side supportsare operated by means of the said side formers, E E, and shape or formthe shoe for the lower or female die, L, Figs. 1 and 5, and also preventthe outer edge of the shoe from being split or mashed outward whilebeing creased and partially .punched. The said side 'or edge of the shoecannot, therefore, bulge outward, but will be firmly retained in itsproper shape and place. These side supports are kept in positioif bymeans of a coil spring, 1 Fig. 13, and have upon the upper surfacethereof at or near the end of the same rollers 1 Figs. 1 and 13, whichpass in the said grooves D '1), and by which the side supports areoperated by theside formers as aforesaid.

The incline bed-plate, Figs. 2, 5, 14, and 15, I, construct of iron orsteel, or both, and place the same immediately 1n the rear of the lowerdie-roller, K ,Fi g. 5, and in height to correspond to said roller. Thisis for the purpose of receiving the shoe as it comes from the saiddierollers so that'it may be straightened and made true. The shoe,passes down upon this inclined bed N until it is arrested and stoppedthereon by means of the stopper S, Figs. 5

and 15, at which time the flattener or plate P, Figs. 5, 14, and 15, ismoved down upon the shoe thus held by means of the cams It, Figs. 2,4,1and 5, which straighten and make the shoe perfectly true. WVhen thesecams pass the i said flattener or plate, it is lifted from the saidvshoe by means of' springs, while at the same timethe cams It, samefigures, depress the rollers S S, Figs. 2and 5, which are secured to theaxle S, same figures,to which is connected the .said stopper S, wherebythe said stopper isdepressed downward and away from the said shoe, sothat the said shoe, having thus been straightened and made true, is freeto pass and passes off from the said incline bed to any convenient placeupon the under side of the said fla-ttener or plate 1?. I constructaprojection, P, somewhatin the sh ape of a horseshoe, which is the partof said plate which comes in contact with and flattens the said shoe,when the shoe passes in a channel or groove upon the said inclined bedaway from the machine. This adjustable flattener or plate is madof ironor steel, and of strength suflicient to answer the purpose required. Thescraper M, Figs. 5, 14, and 15, is for the purpose of removing the shoeoff from the die-roller K, Fig. 5, over which the shoe passes to theinclined bed and device for flattening and making the same true, asaforesaid. The cams R and R are properly adjusted upon the same axle R,as shown at Figs. 2, 4, and 5,

Having thus described the construction and operation of my invention andimprovements in machinery for making horse and mule shoes,

what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is-

l. The adjustable bender g, in combination.

stopper S, during the operation of flattening or straightening saidshoe, substantially as herein described and set forth.

4. The adjustable die-plate or flattener P, in combination with the camsR and the inclined bed or plate N, substantially as and for the purposesherein described and setforth.

5. The employment of the movable stopper S, in combination with theinclined bed or plate N, substantially as and for the purpose hereindescribed and set forth.

In testimony whereof I have on this 25th day of February, 1863, hereuntoset my hand.-

BARNEY MEE. Witnesses MARCUS P. NORTON, UH AS. D. KELLUM.

